This week we decided to make three different recipes of banana bread to see the effects of both baking soda and baking powder. BJ made a chart to compare all the ingredients and the amounts of each recipe. He wanted to double each recipe so each student could take some home. I had him do the math for all ingredients. Once he realized we would need 16 aged bananas he settled for a single recipe!

From our research, we new that baking soda needs an acid to react with to create carbon dioxide which allows the bread to rise. Baking powder is primarily baking soda with cream of tartar (a powdered acid) so it just needs a liquid to be present to react. So our three breads had called for different amounts and kinds of leaveners. Jack and BJ made their own breads (all by themselves!) and the Tots did a recipe together.

Each bread was a success but the votes were split between Mama Paul's (my grandmother) recipe and Fine Cooking's recipe. Mama Paul's called for just baking soda and Fine called for baking powder and soda with buttermilk as the acidic ingredient. Mama Paul's did not rise very well which is what we predicted. It was also the darkest in color. BJ was afraid he burned it but it turns out that the baking soda darkened the bread since it didn't have an acid to neutralize. Seriously, amazing chemistry in cooking!

On Monday each student wrote about another student. They described their physical traits, any history of them they could remember from our December presentations, personality traits, their likes and dislikes, information about their family and to finish it off, one thing they like about one them. I was very pleased with the results. The students did very well describing each other and could recall lots of information. When the students heard what their classmates said about them, they loved it. Lucy said to Claire, "That's the nicest story I have ever heard!" This activity lead us into our self portraits that did on Wednesday with Judd. Judd had set up mirrors in the art room and each artist studied themselves and did a pencil line drawing of what they saw. Judd was very impressed with every one's portrait and was proud of each of us for working through the challenge of a self portrait.

One week, a student chose an image of a dragon as our reference material. The drawing shown here demonstrates some things we've learned about this artist, B.J. Wolf. B.J. has a good, patient eye for detail. He also enjoys blending colors, as seen in the neck, wings and fire-breath of his dragon. He always considers the background and, in this case, on his own initiative, inserted an erupting volcano.

Today Judd came in and set up a chemistry experiment while also teaching the kids how to bake homemade bread. He started with a group discussion identifying the four main ingredients of bread: flour, water, salt and yeast. Yeast was unfamiliar to the littles so Jack (our 11 year old) explained that yeast was alive which allows the bread to rise. Judd added that the yeast gives off carbon dioxide, which creates the bubbles in the bread.

Each student met with Judd and whipped up their secret batch of bread. One batch was perfect. Another didn't have any salt. One had too much flour and one had too much water. The last one didn't have any yeast. The kids kept their secret until the end and made observations and predictions before and after cooking.

The school smelled wonderful as the bread cooked. We all had a difficult time waiting for it to cool before enjoying each bread experiment with butter and homemade jam from the Lawler's house. Amazingly, all the bread tasted good and the one with no yeast was requested for seconds! We have some dough lovers in the group! Here is the recipe for the perfect bread!

Tuesdays are the new day to be in town. The kids were introduced to bowling today and had a fantastic time cheering each other on. I was able to watch them play and I could not believe how supportive they were of each other! Check out the pictures and video below. Listen closely in the video to catch the encouraging words shared between the kids!

Friday the 13th. Should I really being subbing on a day like this? As I ate my eggs for breakfast, I tossed the spilled salt over my left shoulder and bypassed all black cats on the way out to school. Even as I avoided all the bad omens, I was completely wiped at the end of the day. When I say "wiped", I mean completely and literally done for the day and needed a nap! God bless you Paula for doing this every day.

The day began with the kids playing outside in the snow. Some schools may have indoor recess because of the temperatures, but my instincts told me the kids were dressed appropriately and really needed this time to explore in the snow. We have had so little white stuff this winter, the kids were craving it! Coming inside, we settled for calendar time with Lucy and Jorge. Claire worked on tangrams; Jack read about the origin of Friday the 13th; and BJ found an anchor activity to explore. The whole group met up to discuss Friday the 13th, unlucky numbers, superstitions and jinxes. The look on the tot's faces as we discussed the lack of a 13th floor in apartment buildings and on planes was priceless.

What followed next was a cooking lesson in the kitchen on making a quick bread: cranberry. All of the kids enjoy being in the kitchen and Paula and I had discussed introducing them to all varieties of bread. We talked about leavening agents and how since this bread didn't need yeast, it contained baking powder and soda instead. Above this post, I will attempt to post the video we took! We MEASURED dry ingredients, BEAT the butter and sugar, CRACKED eggs, SIFTED flour and FOLDED in cranberries. All kids got a turn helping in some way, although, each thought the others were getting more turns :) A lesson for next time in setting expectations!

As we let our bread bake, we came back to the classroom to work on the scrapbooks the kids were creating about their first semester experiences. Each student was working on their own creation of a topic brainstormed previously by the class. A variety of scrap booking materials were available for them to use. Some kids chose to hand write their text, while others dictated to myself as I typed it up on the computer. It was interesting to watch each child decide what to add, how to lay out their page and then commit to finally gluing down each piece. This was an activity that each child could take to their own level and take pride in their accomplishment.

Bread was done, but needed to cool (and I wanted them to eat their lunches before filling up on the yummy bread!) We had lunch together and I was requested to guess what each child had in their lunch. Now, I was pretty good at this as 3 of them were my own children, and even though I only pack their sandwiches, I am aware of their side possibilities! It was fun to try and guess Jorge and Claire's lunch. I would guess something like a "sandwich" for Jorge and all the kids would reply "Jorge never has a sandwich for lunch!" like they couldn't believe I didn't know that! It's amazing how close these kids actually get to one another.

I convinced the kids that the bread would still be warm after they played outside (and it would be a good way for me to lure them back in!) Snow gear was donned and all headed out to continue their snow forts. Claire wore out quickly and came inside and asked if she could get the bread ready. We had made one loaf for our snack and individual loaves for each child to take home. The small loaves were wrapped up and the large one was sliced for us to eat.

All of the kids left outside came in quickly when we announced the bread was ready. Kids ate the bread they had made that morning as I read a fairy tale, "The Lion and the Mouse" to the tots from The Little Book for Mom's. It was time for me to read "Snake Head Invasion" to the bigs and each tot found something to do on their own. This would normally be the time for "Mouse House" which involves blankets laid out and put over chairs so the tots can play a game of house where each plays the part of a mouse. However, Claire wanted to continue reading out of the Mom's book (filled with fairy tales, short stories and poems) and Lucy wanted to draw in her sketch book. Jorge spent his time preparing for Mouse House which just never could get off the ground.

After read aloud, I spent some time with the bigs on their math project while the tots chose an anchor activity to complete. Earlier in the week, holiday break stories were shared and driving vs. flying came to discussion. Kids wondered about the amount of time and money spent on each. Jack and BJ worked on figuring out the different routes taken to get to Florida, mileage, and how much tickets were to different locations in Florida. This was just the start to calculating out the total time and money spent on each mode.

The day was close to ending, and I was grateful. Teaching had taken a lot out of me today and I was relieved to have gotten through the day! We needed to clean the room and pick up. BJ headed over to the chore chart and recorded what each child was responsible forall knew what they needed to do without any guidance from me. Jack changed the water for Leo, the frog; Lucy cleaned the bathrooms; Jorge swept the floors and picked up the classroom; and BJ vacuumed the room. Man, things looked good! We decided to mop up the floors with all the boots tracking in snow. Jorge and Lucy enjoyed getting out the mops, wetting them and wiping up the floors. I showed Lucy how it is better to mop and walk backwards so you don't track right where you just wiped! Maybe this will transfer to her cleaning at home?? :) All finished their jobs quickly and efficiently as they were promised "free time" at the end of the day. Claire and Jorge chose to play "Teach Me Kindergarten" on the iPads while Jack and BJ went back out to play in the snow. Lucy stayed with me and helped me finish mopping the floors!

So that is the end of my tale for the day. I will now head to bed with a clear conscience that my kids are being taught by the most creative and energetic person out there. Yes, it is my sister, but she continues to amaze me at the amount of things my children are exposed to in this small school setting. I know they love school, love Paula, and are learning everything they need to in order to succeed in the world today. Good night...

Author

Laura Wolf is the mother of three children who have attended Prairie Green. Currently, Lucy is in her final year at PGS while her older boys attend West High School. She has also taught grades 3rd-5th and is a media specialist.